A Lot of Travel, A Little Bit of History, and a Whole Bunch of Photos

Tag: Upper Peninsula
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Point Iroquois Lighthouse is located in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, on the shores of Whitefish Bay (that is the same body of water guided by the Whitefish Point Lighthouse), at the entrance to the St. Mary’s River. Point Iroqouis Lighthouse is located in the Hiawatha National Forest and is operated by the National Forest Service. Because of this, it is very hard to find information about it, such as their hours. Despite this, this summer, while camping at Straits State Park, we made the drive east to check out this historic lighthouse.

Interestingly, the name Point Iroquois comes from a 1662 battle between the local Ojibwa people and an invading Iroquois war party, looking to dominate the fur trade. The Ojibwa were able to stave off the Iroquois, halting their westward expansion. It is said that the Ojiwa refer to Point Iroquois as “Nau-do-we-e-gun-ing”, which means place of Iroquois bones. (NFS)

The lighthouse itself, is a classic, Michigan lighthouse with attached lighthouse keepers’ quarters. The current lighthouse was built in 1870. After 107 years of lighting up the bay, it was replaced by an automatic light. I am so glad these beauties are being preserved for future generations to enjoy and learn about the Great Lakes maritime history.

This fall, we took a long weekend trip to Tahquamenon Falls and Whitefish Point. Unfortunately, with our unseasonably warm fall, the colors were late and everything was still pretty green. It was still a relaxing weekend in nature that I definitely needed. We did get to photograph a relatively empty Great Lakes beach, although it was pretty chilly.

Whitefish Point is a landmark on Lake Superior that is known for its lighthouse, Shipwreck Museum and the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial. One of the reasons it is a popular tourist spot is because it is about an hour from Tahquamenon Falls. It is designated an “Important Bird Area” and the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory runs research and education programs in the park’s marshlands. Its a beautiful place to enjoy a Lake Superior beach too!

Over the summer, Chris and I began a new venture, Guided Photography Tours. As I’m sure you know by now, we enjoy traveling and exploring new places to photograph. Through this project, we hope to share our love of travel and photography with other photographers. Currently, we are offering two classes at our local library: Photography Basics and Better Smart Phone Photography. It has been fun to see our students learn new things and discover new places in their home town. To learn more about Guided Photography Tours and our upcoming evernts, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

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Last summer, during our road trip, we made a stop in the Keewenaw Peninsula on at McLain State Park. The park had breathtaking views of Lake Superior and allowed you to view both the sunrise and sunset over the water, but it was in desperate need of repair. In my campground review, I mentioned that the bathhouse was the worst of the whole trip and the fact that the park had a bizarre layout due to the fact that the old campground road virtually crumbled into Lake Superior. Well, as I began planning our camping adventures for this summer, I noticed McLain was not open for reservations. I did some digging and learned that the park is beginning a major renovation this spring. Well, it seems like someone at the DNR must read this blog, because the first phase of the construction is going to focus on all of my complaints. The plans include a new bathhouse as well as 30 new campsites and a new road throughout the campground. I am very excited for the renovations and will have to make reservations once its all complete.

About the Photo
I posted a similar photo shortly after our road trip and once I set up for that shot, I realized, it would make a great location for an epic self portrait. Sometimes, its fun to put yourself in the landscape to give it perspective.

At the end of last year, I made the goal to go at least one place I had never been before and I think I accomplished that and then some. I explored many parts of my home state that I had never visited before. I explored many of the towns on the Lake Michigan shore. I traveled to the northern tip of the Upper Peninsula. I spent some time exploring the Sunrise Coast along Lake Huron. In the fall, I headed south and explored Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. I discovered a few places that I can’t wait to return to and one or two that I would like to make annual visits to.

I feel like I took some of my best photos this year. All that exploration gave me needed inspiration for my photography. I did some more portrait work and even shot my first wedding this fall! I learned a lot about lighting and have been dabbling with off-camera flash (Chris is still the expert in this, but I’m learning). I really put my focus on Instagram this year and it has been great to see some of my photos get over 100 likes. Its almost unbelievable.

On a personal note, I lost my beloved 18 year cat, Ebert this fall and that has been so hard. Months later, I still get teary eyed thinking about him. A few months ago we adopted another fuzz ball, Roary, who we are training to be an Adventure Cat and take with us on our various adventures. If you want to see pictures of him, I’m always posting photos of him on Instagram with the hashtag #roarymowers.

I hope that 2017 will bring more improvement in my photography. I would like to upgrade from my entry level gear this coming year. And of course, I hope to continue exploring. I wonder what new place I was discover next year. Stay tuned to the blog to find out!

During our summer road trip, we spent a day at the tip of the Keewenaw Peninsula, in Copper Harbor. One notable site in Copper Harbor is historic Fort Wilkins. I’ve visited a few forts in my travels from Fort Michilmackinac in Mackinac City and Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West to Castillo de San Marcus in St. Augustine and there was something about For Wilkins that felt different. There are no stone barricades meant to keep enemies from invading. The buildings of Fort Wilkins look like small houses. This is because this fort was not built for war, but instead to assist the law enforcement in the Keewenaw. When copper was discovered in the upper peninsula, it was anticipated to bring lawlessness and chaos like the gold rush in California, but the miners that came were well behaved. When The Mexican American War broke out, the soldiers moved down to Texas and the fort was abandoned. After the Civil War, it was reoccupied to serve as a place for soldiers to serve out the rest of their enlistment. In 1923, the fort and nearby lighthouse became a Michigan State Park.

About the Photo:
With this photo, I was trying to go for an old-timey postcard feel. This is a single RAW exposure, edited in Lightroom. I tried a bunch of different presets and none of them really did was I was trying to do, so I converted it to black and white and then did color and contrast adjustments until I got the photo you see above.